Pet carriers have been in use for some time. There are several significant design criteria for an effective pet carrier. The carrier must be structurally strong enough to contain the pet, while at the same time be sufficiently light so that the combination of carrier and pet can be easily handled by the owner. Another design criteria is to be able to collapse the carrier when not in use so that it takes up very little storage space. Pet carriers in the past have addressed one of these criteria but have failed to provide a design which effectively addresses them all. U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,331 shows a rigid pet carrier with collapsible sidewalls which has the appearance of a suitcase when folded up. Apart from the disadvantage of weight, such design also suffers from needless complexity which, over time, will ensure operational difficulties with the collapsing sidewalls due to the numerous fold locations and pivots required to effectively collapse the sidewall. U.S. Pat. No. 5,672,697 illustrates a rigid pet carrier having two sections which telescope with respect to each other so that the volume of the pet carrier can be enlarged or reduced to contain animals of different sizes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,698 illustrates a pet carrier with mesh sidewalls which is noncollapsing. U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,612 illustrates a rigid stackable pet carrier. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,280,79; 5,121,710; 5,081,956; and 4,159,593 illustrate portable doghouses. U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,119 illustrates a pet carrier which, upon unlatching of an internal frame member, allows the endwalls to fold on themselves along a vertical fold.
One of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a lightweight pet carrier that can be collapsed to a very small size and easily stored. Another objective of the present invention is to provide a design which can be assembled for use quickly and provide comfort for the pet when in use. Another objective of the present invention is to provide additional features which allow accommodation of a companion storage pouch for holding pet-related items or items owned by the owner, as well as various windows or openings to allow ventilation in the carrier for the comfort of the pet. These and other objectives can be more readily seen by an examination of the detailed description of the preferred embodiment below.